My Studio (aka The Woman Cave)

Someone asked if I had pictures of My Studio, so I went to my blog to link to them.  Duh!  I never posted them... all I could find was a posting that said pictures to come.  So, here they are...

This is the outside.  I have since added a barn quilt to the left side of the front door.  I've also added a dogwood tree, some azaleas, and some hostas to the landscaping.   We love the yard. 

The pictures below are to the right of the front door and look toward the cutting table.  Notice the wine cooler.  (big smile)  The sink is a large sink without a divider.  I use it for giving my pug a bath.  I also had it put in should I decide to dye fabrics.  (Do you think it's still so pristine?  Nope, stuff all over the counter.  This reminds me I need to clean up.)  Notice the doors on the left.  More explanation to come. 

 The door on the right leads to my bathroom.

Next picture -- My HandiQuilter Avante with the Prostitcher.  I have since purchased a UPS which sits under the frame.  The backdrop on the right (with the quilt squares) is a disappearing design wall.  It's like a big flannel window shade that rolls up into something that looks like a box shelf.

See the three doors.  They nest and roll on a track so I can move them back and forth.  My stash is hidden behind them.  The third picture (above) shows the other set.  The entire back wall of the studio is storage.  The doors give me access but keep the fabric from being exposed to light so it doesn't fade. 

My sewing machines sit to the left of the door when you enter the Studio.  I have since purchased a Horn cabinet which sits where the black table is.  It holds my Babylock Ellisimo and my Babylock Imagine serger.  The table under the window has been replaced by a Featherweight table and the Featherweight which is the same age as I.  The black table now sits by the window to the right and holds my Janome MC10000. 

To the right of the front door is a desk where I can use my "travelling" machines, a Babylock Grace or my second Featherweight, if I need more machines set up to piece.

There are some other things not in the pictures (other than the UFOs).  In front of the cutting table and the long arm frame, I've added GelPro floor mats.  They are worth their weight in gold.  On the wall in the corner above and by the desk, I have slat board (similar to peg board) for hanging embroidery hoops and quilting stencils.  I purchased two nice sewing chairs from a local sewing machine dealer.  I also purchased two bar stools which sit in front of the cutting table.  They are nice to have when hubby comes to visit.  And, last but not least, I added an ironing board.

Thank you for walking through the tour of My Studio. 

Sew Sisters Retreat

From time to time, I disappear from home for a few days to go on a quilt retreat.  The men folks in my life don't understand why a bunch of women would want to spend three days sewing until they are dead tired.  The idea is to create something new.  Sometimes, we learn a new skill or technique.  Other times, we may make a mystery quilt which means we have no idea what it's going to look like, but we're there for the ride. 

So, I thought I'd give you a sneak peak...

See the blur in red... that's me.  We are all busy in various creative tasks, but there is a lot of chatter going on.  This particular retreat has been held in Winston-Salem, NC (my home) by two wonderful women.  Lisa and Karen run a business called Sew Sisters.  After this retreat, we are ALL Sew Sisters.  I've been to many retreats, but I've never been with a group of women who have become friends as quickly as this group.  We have learned a lot, but we have become buddies. 

Bonnie Hunter (queen of scrappy) and Mickey Depre (queen of hexies) have been our teachers.  They are dynamic women.  I wish I had a smidgen of their knowledge. 

Here are some of my accomplishments.  This is the pieced block that Bonnie taught us to make.  This block contains 41 different pieces of fabric.  Whew!  There will be 9 of them in the finished quilt.  (I have all 9 made at the end of the day.  Yippee!)

 This is my hexie bock that Mickey taught us to make.  These hexies are unique because they are pieced.  Before Mickey, most hexies were made from a solid piece of fabric.  Mickey has kicked it up a notch by piecing fabric to make unique hexie blossoms. 

The hexie blossoms are a lot of hand stitching.  I have only one of these completed at the end of the day, but I have the pieces stitched to make the rest.  It will be good handwork in front of the TV at night. 

So the retreat ends tomorrow and we all go back home to our own lives.  But those lives will be richer for our new friends with whom we will stay connected through Facebook, e-mail, blogs, Quiltville, and the Sew Sisters reunion. 

Baby Quilts

I love making baby quilts.  I love the celebration of a new life and the expectation that a little one will cuddle in my quilt for years to come.  My friends, Shane and Natalie, are expecting their first baby.  My quilt guild had a workshop in April to make a heart log cabin quilt.  When I saw it, I knew it was just the ticket for this new little one...

I picked colorful solids to contrast with a whimsical print.  It was so much fun to make. 

In addition to the quilt, I made some burp cloths.  These are one of my favorite baby shower gifts because they can be so individual to the baby.  You won't see these on a register at BabysRUs or Target. 

The middle one matches the print on the quilt.  "Powell Power" was coined by the first Powell child on our street, Stella.  It reigns.  The green one matches the baby's room.  Natalie is a UGA alumni, so the trio had to include the Dawgs.  When the baby arrives, we will add a customized one to the collection. 

Finished! (on time)

My husband fusses at me for taking on projects with a deadline because I usually end up staying up all night to finish the project before the deadline.  Ok... so I work better under pressure. 

In working on Beth's quilt, I knew the deadline was Mother's Day.  I did a much better job of planning this one out and had it completed by the Thursday prior.  Here's the big reveal...

I managed to get all the center medallions turned in the right direction after having many sets of eyes take a look at it.  Beth's husband is on the left and my husband in on the right. 

I do love the pattern.  It would make a great I Spy quilt for a child. 

Which one of these...

When my granddaughter was growing up, I would buy workbooks that had four pictures and you had to pick out which one of these is not like the other.  I can look at a block and it looks perfect.  Take a picture of it and it's like playing which one of these is not like the other. 

Enter my latest example...

Do you see it?  I was auditioning borders and took a picture with my cell phone.  Just as soon as I opened the picture on my computer, I saw the block which had been turned 90 degrees the wrong way.  Of course, then I went back and found another one.  (frog quilting... ripit, ripit) 

So I showed the picture to DH.  He came out to the studio and said, "I thought you were going to fix it."  Aaarrrggghhh.  He found two more! 

All are fixed.  We've made numerous inspections and think I have the all right now.  Maybe I should take a picture...

Design Wall Monday

On Monday's, Judy at Patchwork Times has a "link up" for quilters to show what's on their design wall.  Here's my current project in process...

In front of the design wall is my long arm quilter and you can see the strips lined up for making more blocks.  Lots of work to do...  this quilt was requested as a gift for Mother's Day in 2012.  I'm heads down trying to finish it for Mother's Day this year.

Wake Up, Harley

A couple posts ago, I talked about black and gold fabrics.  My cousin is a Harley Davidson bike rider and he asked me to make a t-shirt quilt for his daughter, Mary.  Mary is a recent graduate of Wake Forest University... hence, the black and gold fabrics.

The t-shirts had logos and designs of various sizes.  Some of them were 16" which is a little oversized for a t-shirt quilt.  Most t-shirt squares are cut at 12" and the logos are just chopped off... not to my liking for a special quilt like this one had to be.  Some of the logos were small which would have left a lot of negative space on the block if they were cut at 12".

So, it became a very custom quilt.  The t-shirt blocks were various sizes filled in with traditional quilt blocks in black and gold.  I used blocks like flying geese, square in square, pinwheels, etc.  I thought they would add a nice touch since the quilt was for a girl, yet the t-shirts and colors were somewhat masculine.  The traditional blocks finished at 5" square (except the geese) and I used sashing to make the rows even.

Here's the result...

The driver for preserving the 16" block is the middle block which says...

           What makes a road "Sweet"?
           What makes a journey "Epic"?
           It starts with that ribbon of pavement  calling your name.  

As Mary is at the beginning of her life's journey having just graduated from college, I thought it was so profound.  She will have roads in her life calling her name and whether the journey is sweet or epic is all about the decisions she will make.

Oh, Wake up, Harley is the name of the quilt... Wake Forest + Harley Davidson.  Get it?